The Kneeling Man
by AnnabellStarRose
Summary: Bruce is having one of those nights...he feels alone, lost, and just helpless. Who better to come to the rescue than Tony? Just a quick little one-shot i wrote it like legit 15 minutes flat. Hope you like.


***A/N: This is just a little short story I wrote. It's focused on Bruce and his feelings, with slight Tony/Bruce at the end. So yeah. Enjoy and please review and let me know what you think. I needed a break from the Be My Otter? Story. A lot has been going on in my life and a lot happened so yeah. Don't worry I will be updating another chapter shortly. I will try to update every Sunday. **

A broken man, tattered and torn, knelt on the rough carpet of his room. His knees ached from kneeling for so long. How long had he been there, doubled over, hands entwined in his unruly hair that curled over his long delicate fingers? Long enough that the golden lines of light had made their way from the floor to his ceiling and he still hadn't moved. The sun was quickly setting, the golden rays getting dimmer by the minute. Soon he would be shrouded in darkness. The night swallowed up any and all shape, leaving it behind as it ascended further; swallowing up every bit of light until there was nothing left but cold, empty darkness. The Kneeling Man wished it would swallow him up, take him away into the night, and devour him until he disappeared. His hands clutched at his hair as deep brown eyes stared, completely horrified, at the floor. STOP! His mouth formed the word but all that came out was a shaky breath of air. His heart began to pound; the sound of rushing blood filled his ears. He couldn't inhale deep enough. Every breath felt like a small gasp, barely filling him with the right amount of air his body needed. His head hurt, pounding rhythmically to his heart as it worked over time.

His vision blurred as the room began to shimmer and swirl in and out of his vision; for a second the floor he had been staring at seemed closer than before. He felt the scratchy texture of the carpet against his face and realized he had fallen forward. He tightly shut those dark brown eyes of his. The eyes that show such tenderness, such intelligence, such fear. The eyes that show self loathing, hatred, and anger in their purest forms. Those eyes were now producing a clear, semi-salty liquid. Tears. They dripped from his eyes, running down his cheek, before finally dripping onto his hands that had untangled themselves from his unkempt hair and were now clenching at the rough, unforgiving carpet.

A gentle knock at the door startled him and he tried to make the tears stop, tried to call out for whoever it was to not come in, but he couldn't even move. He could just stay there, kneeling, trembling, and crying silent tears that would forever go unheard or unnoticed. Or so he thought. A tall man entered the room; the head of his shadow reaching into the now pitch darkness of the room, for the sun had finally gone. The only light was that from the opened door, partly filled by the man's figure. He took a few steps into the room and the dim blue light from the contraption forever embedded into his chest became brighter compared to the emptiness of the room.

"Bruce?" his usually arrogant voice was only concern and fear at this point. He quickly crossed the room to the kneeling man, pulling him up by the shoulders until his golden brown eyes met with the deep depths of the others own brown eyes. His tears shown off of the light from the arch-reactor.

"Fix it, please..." the plea came from Bruce's mouth, his voice broken and strained. It tore at Tony's heart to hear his lover's voice sound to raw with emotion.

"Fix what?" Tony asked, his eyes quickly raking the other man up and down looking for any type of injury or wound. There was no blood, no broken bones that he could see, so what needed to be fixed? Bruce clutched at Tony's band tee, stretching out the thin material. Bruce looked into the man's eyes; those eyes always made him feel more human, made him forget the monster he was, and almost forget the one inside of him.

"Me." Bruce said, but the simple answer turned into a choked sob as he buried his face into the curve of the other mans shoulder. Tony only wrapped his arms around the broken man and held him close while his cries echoed through the dark and empty room. The tears where finally being heard, being seen.

"You don't have to hide anymore Bruce. It's alright, I'm here and I'm never leaving." Tony whispered into the soft curly locks that tickled his nose as he spoke. His words of reassurance touched Bruce like no other, and when he looked up to see in Tony's eyes if what he said was true he was met with warm, soft lips pressed against his own. The kiss was soft and gentle. It was safe. Tony was safety for him, his salvation in hell he called a life. The kiss ended slowly and Bruce nuzzled once more into his partners. Tony murmured sweet nothing's into his ear and soon Bruce had fallen asleep against him, exhausted and weak with aching knees and blood shot eyes. And there they laid that night, holding each other as they slept, letting the darkness swallow them both into a dreamless sleep.

-END-


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